


Sabotage

by khilari



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Jasper being nice, kind of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 08:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6746245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khilari/pseuds/khilari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peridot convinces Jasper to come to Earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sabotage

Jasper’s rest block is made of a glassy grey material and, despite the careless air she projects, relentlessly neat. There’s a computer bank at one end, a shelf of _possessions_ that aren’t work related, and a spongy orange mat in one corner for relaxing on. It looks somewhat like a think chamber but, while they are meant for a short respite when solitude and quiet will help with generating a solution, this is for someone who has times where they’re not needed. There are _entertainments_ , although Peridot has never looked at them. There is always something useful for a peridot to be doing, and therefore they do not need distractions. Peridot does not slack off on her tasks, she simply prefers to do them here, in quiet and safety.

Today, as Peridot’s finger loses its temporary key shape from letting herself in, it is too quiet. Jasper is out. Which wouldn’t normally be a problem, Jasper doesn’t mind her being here and she always has plenty to do while waiting, but today she can’t concentrate. Instead she paces, chewing on one finger while others tug at her hair, muttering phrases as she tries to figure out what to tell Jasper.

The door opening behind her makes her yelp and jump, then, seeing Jasper, she runs over to her, fingers now clutching at Jasper’s hair instead of her own as she huddles in her shadow. Big hands close around her waist and lift her, metal limbs dangling, and she goes limp with relief.

‘What’s up with you?’ Jasper asks.

‘I’ve been sabotaged,’ Peridot says, voice shrill. Her fingers clutch at Jasper’s arms.

Jasper sighs. ‘If this is about your manager again —’

‘No! No, I know you’ve already interceded for me as much as possible. This is — I’ve really been sabotaged.’ She looks up at Jasper, knowing her eyes are wide and teary. ‘They were breaking my machines, they broke the Facet Five Control Room power source while I was using it, they broke the Galaxy Warp, if I hadn’t left when I found that symbol they might have broken it while I was in the Kindergarten and I’d be stuck there —’ She breaks off to shiver.

Jasper’s looking concerned now, in a wholly different way than when she thought this was Peridot’s manager picking on her again. ‘Who were they?’ she asks.

‘I don’t know… the… Crystal Gems?’

‘WHAT?’ Jasper swings Peridot higher abruptly, holding her at eye level with her furiously scowling face. ‘They were dead! Shattered! There should be none left on that miserable hunk of rock!’

‘That’s who they said they were!’ Peridot gestures widely, fingers flying. ‘I don’t know, I couldn’t find them in my database. I assume “crystal” is after the system since one of them was a pearl. One of them was a steven and I couldn’t find that in my database either.’

‘You looked the Crystal Gems up in your database?’ Jasper asks. She puts Peridot down but leaves a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly she looks wary.

‘Yes! It’s standard procedure when encountering something unknown on a mission. Why shouldn’t I?’

‘They’re classified.’

‘It’s not my fault they were still there! I was just following instructions!’ Jasper makes an assenting noise and Peridot sits down, burying her face against her knees.

Jasper sits down too and puts an arm around her. ‘You’re probably stuck with the mission,’ she says, sympathetically. ‘They wouldn’t want another peridot involved.’

‘But what am I going to _do_. They won’t send me to Earth alone, will they? I can’t go to Earth alone! There was an amethyst, a small one, but still, and a fusion and… even the pearl had a weapon! She pointed it at me!’

‘You weren’t even on the same planet,’ Jasper points out.

‘But I will be!’ Peridot clutches at Jasper, burying herself partly in hair that’s surprisingly soft considering it can cut like a buzz saw in battle. ‘You’ll have to come with me. You already know all about the Crystal Gems so it won’t matter that they’re classified.’

‘I don’t get to choose my assignments.’ Jasper’s voice sounds distant, serious, as if she’s thinking very hard about something other than what Peridot’s saying.

Peridot kneels up and meets her eyes. ‘Jasper! I know you’ve asked for assignments before, I won’t stand a chance by myself, please…’

Jasper puts a finger in front of Peridot’s lips without touching them. ‘Calm down.’ She frowns in thought again. ‘Was there another quartz?’

‘What?’

‘Aside from the amethyst?’

‘N-no.’ Maybe Jasper thinks just one quartz, and a small one at that, isn’t sufficient for Peridot to need protection? ‘That is, there might have been. I only saw those of their forces they judged necessary to save the steven.’

Jasper stands up and starts to pace, brow furrowed. She stops at one point and shakes her head, a quick, jerky movement. ‘The pearl,’ she says, tapping her forehead. ‘Oval gem?’

‘Yes.’

Jasper resumes pacing and mutters, ‘…if that pearl survived…’

Peridot doesn’t ask. Classified means classified and she doesn’t care, anyway, except insofar as it might make Jasper more inclined to help her.

Jasper’s pacing comes to an abrupt halt and she nods decisively. ‘I’ll come.’


End file.
